the Cockroach, 1994 Cannondale Delta V singlespeed cyclocross vessel

Never knowing love, scorned as the bastard love child of a Quadangle and a pogo stick, the insurmountable Cockroach, resilient to decades of neglect, abuse and debauchery. Purchased new in 1994, this here Cannondale Delta V, complete with the often mockedHeadshok system has proven to be the most seaworthy vessel of the fleet.

Continuing to dance with the one that brung ya….. Wearing many hats over the past two and a half decades, the ‘Roach has been a standard issue 26″ MTB, an oh-so-cliché slick-tired commuter, an exploratory reconnaissance vessel for a year long tour of the North American continent, and then, cruelly, relegated to the attic like a pedal powered pariah.

After numerous iterations and configurations, it now has risen again, like an angular, knobbly messiah, as a singlespeed cyclocross steed of stubbornness. photo by Kevin Mitchell

The last half of the local cx season was raced on the joyous jalopy with a complete air of silliness and self deprecating mockery, Singlespeed was taken up as a way to mitigate some of the self inflicted seriousness that the morning Masters races had become.

Not having a dedicated SSCX mobile, I dug around in the heaping hordes of two wheeled detritus that litter my world and, like the Arkenstone, the Delta V emerged again to defend against the “way-too-serious about prancing in a field with grown men in tights” mindset.

“She may not look like much…..”

“But she’s got it where it counts kid..” Surprisingly enough, after all the laughing and pointing, the ‘Roach quieted the naysayers with a fair share of hardware hauling. Eyebrows of Fury. Photo by Chip Riggs

So this was the dismemberment plan the day prior the first SSCX race. The first step was to squeeze some dubs under those fenders. The rear was a breeze, no mods necessary…but the front needed some machine love. Stan’s Grail wheel pulled from SuperX for testing.

The biggest, chunkiest bit I could find was put to work in the aging Bridgeport mill, clearing some real estate under the fork crown. There’s a vid of this blasphemy on my IG feed, check it on the right.

Just enough massaging to be functional with 35 c tires. The wheel is dished a bit, gotta fix that.

Even though I’d prefer to not run ’em. The rules state that I need a front brake. Rotor clearance aplenty! Roval 29er wheel stolen from daughter’s bike.

At this point in the project, I’d rather not weld brackets on the frame/ fork, some home-brew bracketry was whipped up. Marvel at the chainwheel bolt spacer on bottom bolt. 140mm rotor and TRP Spyre caliper provide sufficient stoppage. (Thanks Curtis!)

*new plan in photo at bottom (Aug. ’17)

The rear bracketry train wreck took a fair bit of swearing and arm waving…..when I get the mysterious sliding dropout puzzle cracked, then I’ll make a more permanent mount. *new plan in photo at bottom (Aug. ’17)

…any jagged kinda thing

Not ready to start welding bracketry yet, the rear caliper mount took a few tries to get functional and properly embrace the Thunderdome aesthetic.

….and take 2

I think this one was a bit high…

Three is the magic number….. more sharp edges than the underside of a Toyota dashboard ( or VW Beetle fan shroud)

Resplendent with vintage, age appropriate aero helmet and non-standard MAMIL costume, singlespeed turned into an mega-fun time well worthy of many laughs. Also seen in the photo above ( by Cathy Bester) , the rather flaccid fork as the 23yr old Headshok elastomers have crumbled away under the insurmountable weight of time and determinedly decided to be destined for dust.

Rather recently, in preparation for the 2017 Florida cyclocross race season, an effort was initiated to reinvigorate the limp member.

With no luck reaching out to the Vintage Cannondale community for replacement elastomers, nor the special tool required to loosen the inverted castle nut buried in the steer tube, a more geographically appropriate solution was devised.

Yeah, no. No way I can get at the inverted castle nut buried in the steer tube.

So I needed to stuff something remotely squishy in the open area under the top cap.I tried a few different pieces of grip shrapnel.

And ended up folding a bit over and stuffing it in. Yeah, it’s funny, but it works……marginally, but it works.

The chronic EDD is corrected and surprisingly effective with firm-yet-yielding buoyancy and glacial response time. Seeing life again recently in the Gravel/Multi-Strata universe, I always dug the Headshok system, despite the static is receives.

However, the longer, 132mm MTB spindle has a pesky lip machined onto the end of it.

More machine love to rid the spindle of retaining lip.

As long as I have a a troublesome chain tensioner, I need a chain guide, but the now extra wide Q factor put the chainwheel up against the outer edge.

Living in a junkyard/ hardware store there is no shortage of washers and random spacers. I honestly don’t know how I survived nearly 40 years of bike life without the Park CNW-2 chainwheel tool…pure gold.

Functional clearance….I’ll take it.

Typical perch, undersize Thomson mast left over from flatland bmx days and rather smooth, stock Fabric Scoop saddle from the SuperX. DOF newbie photo.

Up at the bow again, a WTB Cross Boss 35c, I dig these, predictable traction, lightweight, firm-yet-yielding, stays on any rim, usually ran around 19-22psi…they do slowly bleed out sealant from the sidewalls though…keep an eye on that.

Why a fernery? Cuz’ they’re hot..and sandy…and this one has some hills , and occasionally, a bit of mud….sorta like a Florida CX race. It’s a perfect place to get well acquainted with heat stroke, snakes, biting flies, poison ivy and gun-wielding landowners. It’s also PDG for 50 minute, zone 5, hypoxic meltdowns culminating into a overly dramatic wheezing heap atop the sand, poison ivy and snakes while orbited by clouds of #$%* evil biting flies. But really, I dig it here. Everyone Hates Florida.…except roaches.